Fossilized Tooth

[Cachersusie]

I found this tooth on the gravel bed of the creek last week. It seems fossilized, the best I can tell anyway. Do you guys know what it might have belonged to? Thanks in advance. 

[ynot]

Horse.

[Shellseeker]

Almost certainly Cow or Bison.... but differentiating is the difficulty

See this thread.

 

[ynot]

23 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Almost certainly Cow or Bison.

Could You explain why this ID over horse?

[Shellseeker]

15 minutes ago, ynot said:

Could You explain why this ID over horse?

So , pretty close .. If you look at the 1st photo and then this photo from the thread I pointed to...

Cut it in half, the tooth being asked for identification is split lengthwise.

Then this photo from @Harry Pristis of an Equus,  I think the horse is a more complicated tooth...

What do you think Tony?

[Harry Pristis]

Bovid lophid.  Try to find a similar lophid in the images provided.  

 

For comparison:

 

 

[Cachersusie]

Thank you all for your help. Here are some different angles. It probably won't help with identification but maybe with age. 

 

[Cachersusie]

[Shellseeker]

8 hours ago, Cachersusie said:

Thank you all for your help. Here are some different angles. It probably won't help with identification but maybe with age. 

Because the modern cow and prehistoric bison ( and North Texas has huge numbers of each) are so closely related, it is extremely difficult even for an expert to differentiate from a single tooth.

There is a "burn test"  inserting a hot needle to smell the result... fossilized rock does not smell. I have never performed the test, myself.

Your tooth has character and age. It LOOKS fossilized. In my collection, I would proudly keep it with my other bison teeth.  I have a few that I treat that way, even though the % of bison versus cow in Florida is low.

[Harry Pristis]

13 hours ago, Cachersusie said:

Thank you all for your help. Here are some different angles. It probably won't help with identification but maybe with age. 

 

The fragment is already identified as a closed vertical cylinder of enamel from a bovid (bison or cow) cheek tooth.  The end of the cylinder (a lophid) is exposed in the occlusal surface of the tooth.

 

Age of this fragment cannot be determined from images, but we know that bison entered North America in the Pleistocene, while cows were introduced just a few hundred years ago.

 

A 'burn test' or 'match test' will indicate only whether there is collagen remaining in a bone -- scorched collagen has an awful smell. Briefly apply an open flame (I prefer a butane lighter) to an inconspicuous area of the object . . . you cannot keep a pin hot enough long enough to scorch collagen. Tooth enamel contains hydroxyapatite, but doesn't contain significant collagen, so the 'burn test' on tooth enamel would be a waste of time.